HRS vandal denies writing racist note

"PAN" spoke out yesterday, this time using computer paper instead of elevator walls. In a typed letter addressed to the residents of High Rise South and posted in the building's elevators, the vandal admitted to having scrawled "PAN" on every elevator in the dormitory. But he or she denied having anything to do with the "Fuck niggers" graffiti found in an HRS elevator Saturday night by first-year Social Work student Penny Alexander. And the vandal repeatedly noted that the signature "PAN" does not stand for "Penn Against Niggers," as High Rise South desk workers and security guards said it did. "PAN was originally meant to stand for 'Peter Pan,' the boy who refused to grow up," the letter stated. "I would like to sincerely apologize to anyone who has been hurt or frightened by the word PAN. "I never intended, and am indeed horrified by this mess," the vandal said. According to the letter, when the the original PAN vandal learned the signature was being "misinterpreted," he or she wrote "PAN loves everyone" all over the walls "to avoid confusion." The vandal said another person has now attributed "sick and racist" comments to the signature. "One person out there, not an entire organization, is playing off of our fears and is doing it through a word whose weight I never considered and whose sad interpretation I never imagined," the original vandal's letter said. But students who saw the letter did not necessarily believe this PAN's statements. College sophomore and Daily Pennsylvanian columnist Jamil Smith tore down three flyers he found in the same elevator yesterday. "I was one of the students who received calls in [W.E.B.] DuBois College House in October of 1993 and the person who called me on the phone said he was part of Penn Against Niggers," Smith said. "The flyers are a cheap attempt to win over the students who probably don't know any better." And Alexander said no matter what the vandal's intent, University policies were still broken. "What happened afterward is a symptom of a larger problem on this campus," she said. "There's a lot of racial tension and hopefully a dialogue can happen." And Alexander said whether PAN's statement was true is not an issue. "It doesn't matter whether I believe him or not," she added. "He defaced University property." Residential Living Director Gigi Simeone said University Police are still investigating the entire situation and "will determine what's going on." Simeone and Acting Vice Provost for University Life Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum will host an open meeting today at 6:30 p.m. in the upper lobby of High Rise South. Director of Victim Support Maureen Rush will also be in attendance. Simeone said she hoped students would come together to talk about the vandalism, and the racist graffiti found this weekend.